You Said Strange | Interview | New Album, ‘Thousand Shadows Vol.1’
This fantastic French quartet, You Said Strange, from Normandy (France) is delivering another slice of their mind melting music with the release of the second album.
The band is composed of brothers Eliot (lead vocals and guitar) and Martin Carrière (bass and vocals) and their childhood buddies Hector Riggi (keyboard and guitar) and Matthieu Vaugelade (drums). The most striking aspect of the record is its meticulous production, due to the presence of James Goodwin (producer of the last sumptuous records of This Is The Kit, Kevin Morby and Wand) and the scrupulous work of sound engineer Théophile Durand, amplifying all the precise and conscientious songwriting that the project has never ceased to evolve with its records and its live experiences. The fuzz guitars are more abrasive than ever, no longer trying to inspire the quietude of previous albums, but rather to highlight the constant dialogue of the voices and the six strings, as well as the variations present in each track, an indelible trademark of You Said Strange.
“To become autonomous with our gear, build a cocoon and stretch our creation on a bigger space of time”
You ended 2021 brilliantly with the release of ‘Thousand Shadows Vol.1’. What was the creative process behind it?
Well first thanks a lot for this observation. After all those European tours and these American adventures the first topic was to find each other, the four of us in our studio and to create our own space. To become autonomous with our gear, build a cocoon and stretch our creation on a bigger space of time. Taking time to refine our sound and our compositions. It can be a trap because you can get lost into the “creation limbos” by adjusting again and again your work without being satisfied. This problem became quickly obvious. There was just a good balance to strike and we managed it pretty well.
We are no stranger to your band as we premiered your 2018 album, ‘Salvation Prayer’. How would you compare it to your latest albums and what are some key differences?
Debut album was a kind of summary of what we’ve created since the genesis of the band. We wanted to concretize our EP’s and our first adventures into an one hour album. As a first step, the second one has been composed on roads during the end of the first album tour. Then the lockdown brutally sent us back home, forcing us to adapt our work. We had tested our first new songs on stage, even the track ‘Thousand Shadows’ has been played exclusively on our KEXP session with Kevin Cole. This sudden change brought some doubts. We who were progressing thanks to the gigs and lives, who were testing our new songs on stage we had to strike out for the first time into another process of creation. The one which will go directly from the studio into our listeners ears without crossing a stage. It’s another approach and we liked it.
A band consisting of brothers and childhood friends must have a perfect dynamic. Would you like to share some background on how you came together and how the beginnings look like?
Eliot and Matt met each other during the first edition of Rock in the Barn (that we all organize now). They were in the audience, listening to young local bands playing on stage, they quickly felt they needed to do the same. I joined the band in 2013, Riggi in 2015 and we have been together ever since. Riggi joined the band firstly because of the unflagging fraternal link he had with Eliot. He even learned how to play guitar after being integrated in the band. He built his music skills with the band. Before the musical aspect, there is a strong friendship between the four of us. A strong love between Eliot and me also. We didn’t find each other thanks to our musical skills, because we are not true musicians but on the other hand there is a true chemistry operating when we play together with our instruments.
You’re influenced by a vast style of music ending in a mix between 90s shoegaze and 60s psychedelia.
Yes, that’s true for our first album. Then we broadened our palette by digesting our influences and listening to new things. From Fontaines D.C., Temples, Viagra Boys, Wand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Kevin Morby.
How was it to work with James Goodwin and Théophile Durand on production and how satisfied are you with the sound of the latest album?
We are extremely satisfied by the sound of the album. First thanks to the production work accomplished in our studio by Théophile who has evolved with us since 2015. He has submitted a colossal work and we learn so much with him, especially Riggi and Matt because Eliot and I are so bad at recording. Theo also learned during the process of the album, which means that volume 2 is gonna be more completed thanks to common acquired experience. We’ve been really amazed by the excitement that Daniel showed for the album. We sent a bottle to the sea by email and he replied after one hour on a Sunday morning. It was 7am for him in Woodstock. He was drinking a coffee, he had not finished listening to the whole album and he was already sending an extremely positive and enthusiastic answer. When someone as Daniel’s caliber sends you this kind of reply it gives a lot of confidence.
I really enjoy that you didn’t polish the sound too much. It still sounds very raw in its nature…
Yes, Daniel wanted to keep the raw and natural aspect of the recording while sublimating it subtly. It’s stunning.
Can you share some further words about the particular songs and songcraft within the band?
Eliot brings catchy themes and structures, his melodies are clear and instinctive. Riggi has a huge spectrum of effects and brings the psychedelic and steamy dimension to the band. Matt knew how to bring a deeper sound to his drum by the way he places his microphones in the room and by his really assumed choices of drums skins and kits. He worked a lot on his songcraft identity with the Revival Drum Shop, a really famous vintage drum shop in Portland.
“The second volume will be out next Fall”
How come you named your second album “Thousand Shadows Vol.1”? Are you already working on Vol. 2?
Yes! The second volume will be out next Fall. This idea came after all those successive lockdowns and those hard sanitary restrictions because we wanted to be sure to play our songs live. Nothing is more frustrating than releasing songs and to not be able to share them on stage, this is not how we regard music. Then we imagined spreading our songs into two volumes that we would release at intervals of several months that would secure at least a period when we could play our songs somewhere on tour.
I also need to mention your wonderful EP, ‘Mourning Colors’…
Oh thanks, it was important to release this one first. We’ve been struck by the death of a really close friend of the family last Winter and Eliot and I figured that we’ve been really protected from the reality of death when we were kids. We realize now lately that it is a part of us, that it surrounds us, we must finally accept that wearing Mourning Colors is simply a part of life. Shanon, the saxophone player in the video clip is this friend’s son and Eliot’s childhood best friend, so it was crucial for us to place him as the main character.
As a very active band, how are you coping with the pandemic? Are you staying optimistic for 2022?
Yes, as I said above, we must imagine a few strategies to keep the head above water, just like this idea of 2 volumes. For example we had 16 gigs in February that melted into 3 sitting concerts but we stayed confident for the next months and the rest of the year. By the way, if we’re not, we should stop now, no?
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
Eliot: ‘Pompei’ By Cate Le Bon
Martin: ‘Ice Melt’ by Crumb
Riggi: ‘New Long Leg’ by Dry Cleaning
Matt: ‘Black Pumas’ by Black Pumas
Thank you. Last word is yours.
Thanks for the great questions. Thank you!
Klemen Breznikar
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